Christmas Time!

I just figured out how to get the pictures off of our new camera, I hope! So I thought I'd post some pictures of my cute kids and the fun time they had at Christmas. They had cute little outfits (Emma had three different dresses, spoiled girl) that made them look very cherubic and festive.

Emma and Jake got Hungry Hungry Hippos for Christmas, and they LOVE it! We played several times that day. Now Emma tells me almost every day that the hippos are saying, "We're hungry, feed us!" so that she can play the game.

Emma got the cutest cowgirl dress-up outfit. She loves it and prances around the house talking about taking care of her animals out in the mud. She even uses the funniest drawl! Too cute!

The Sunday before Christmas, we had a little party with my family and exchanged gifts. Grandma and Grandpa Bowman gave all the kids pajamas and the girls p.j.s this year were so cute! I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but it says angel on the front in silver lettering and there are angel wings printed on the back. The pants have silver hearts, and yes, that's a little tutu that goes with it. Adorable! Alicia and Blake had someone make fun little scarves for all the kids and Emma loved hers. She immediately put it on and wanted to sleep in it. I convinced her that it would be safer if she left it off for bed. Before she came up for breakfast the next morning, however, it was back on!

Jacob got a new Llama Llama book and he was so excited to read it that we couldn't get him to open any more presents until I read some of it with him. It was pretty cute. I like that he likes to be read to.

We had a great Christmas together at our own home. We invited both sets of parents over for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. It was fun to have them there with us since we don't know where we will be for the next couple of Christmases. Later that day all of Matt's family came for his sister's wedding and the next day was filled with wedding fun and craziness! We had a great time with everyone and it was fun to see lots of friends and family that we wouldn't have otherwise seen. We hope that all of you had a great time with your families as well. Here's to a Happy New Year!

Quick Update

It's been a while since I've posted anything on the blog, so I thought I'd do a quick update for you all. Matt has been rotating in Pocatello, Reno, and Salt Lake in October, November, and December (respectively). We found out on December 1st that we are going to get another cute little boy to run around with Jacob. We've had fun visiting family and enjoying the holiday season. Jacob and Emma are getting excited for Christmas, even though I keep threatening that Santa won't be coming to our house. My children drive me crazy most days, but I do still love them. Matt's sister is getting married the day after Christmas, so we will get to see even more family and friends than usual! We look forward to January when Matt will be back for good and we will have some semblence of normalacy, as much as we can get anyway. We hope all of you have a great Christmas! We have a new camera, so as soon as I figure it out, I'll post some current pictures.

Surprise!

Back in July and August, several people made comments about me having another baby soon or being pregnant again. I said definitely not, unless Heavenly Father thinks it would be funny to put me over the edge with number three. Turns out, Heavenly Father is quite the class clown. We are expecting baby number three in mid-April. We were quite surprised at this, basically it was like winning the lottery! We are excited to have another sweet spirit join our family and look forward to having another child to climb on the bed with us in the mornings. Leave your guesses, boy or girl and we will have a drawing when we find out! I don't know what the prize will be, but I'll think of something!

Domesticated Diva!

I am very pleased with the new, mad skills I am developing. So far this summer I have made raspberry freezer jam, apricot freezer jam, apricot fruit leather, dried appricots, canned apple pie filling, and canned applesauce. Yet to come, dried apples, canned peaches, and canned salsa. Yummy! I must give a shout out to the random people on Craigslist that offered free fruit for the picking, Alicia, who helped pick apricots, Sister Lofthouse and Mom Larsen for the raspberries, and my AMAZING husband who not only helped eat it all, but helped make it all! He is so great! Canning really isn't hard and, as we tasted tonight with our homemade apple crisp, is very rewarding!

Summer Time Cuties

I know that I am incredibly biased, but my kids are the stinkin' cutest kids ever! They not only look cute, but they have these great personalities to go with them. Emma has started singing, "He's a tramp, but I love him" from Lady and the Tramp. Anyone familiar with my family knows that "tramp" is a term of love at our house. It's pretty funny to hear her sing it. The other night Matt asked me what I wanted to do that night and Emma started reciting the "What cha wanna do? I don't know, what you wanna do?" scene from Jungle Book. We cracked up pretty hard when she started telling us what to say next. Jake has started raising his hand and saying, "Me!" when we ask who wants to do something. It's really funny because Jake only has about a dozen words that he says that we can really understand. He dances anytime there is music playing and he runs to me with open arms for a hug at any given time. My kids really are adorable.

No Room in the Bed

We had several family reunions this summer. They were all great, but Matt couldn't stay for the full time for all of them. Unfortunately, that was probably for the best when we went to Star Valley with the Bowman family. Jacob was supposed to sleep in his pack'n'play while Emma and I slept on the bed. Jacob ended up sleeping with us on the bed, and after just a few hours of pseudo-sleep, I gave up and got up. You can probably tell from the picture that my children move around an awful lot in their sleep.

Two Best Friends

Emma's best friend is Anna Hastings. The two of them love to play and watch movies together. Sometimes they even fight. Even after moving, Emma still asks for Anna to come over and play. She pretends to talk on the phone and it's usually Anna, Todd, or Sarah on the other end. Needless to say, she misses her best friend. We miss you and love you Hastings!

Spring Break

My parents came out to Casper for their Spring Break and my sister (Barbara) stowed away! It was fun to see them and have their company, especially since Matt was in Idaho for four weeks at the time. Unfortunately, we got a HUGE snow storm and then Emma had a fever for three days. I felt bad that my parents came all the way to Casper to witness a great, big storm and be stuck in my house with two small kids, one of which was sick. Doesn't make for the most relaxing or recuperative Spring Break. Isn't family wonderful?

Blog Update!

Yes, after many months, I am finally adding to our blog! It has been a long time coming, but that is the price we pay for misplacing the camera, multiple times. Then we found the camera and the batteries were dead, multiple times. So, at much prodding from you, our viewers (yes, Whitney, that means you), I am going to post many updates, complete with pictures! Yeah!
(Matt thinks Whitney was annoying, not prodding, but Joni disagrees)

FRIED CANDY BARS

Tonight was awesome. Joni and I decided to make a food we tried at the Iowa State Fair. Deep fat fried candy bars. At the fair we tried Oreos, Twinkies, Snickers, and Milky Way. We decided to try it out with Snickers, 3 Musketeers, and Milky Way. It was DIVINE! You start by chilling the candy bars in the freezer. Then you mix a batter up, kind of like a pancake batter. Dip the candy bars in the batter, then drop them in the frying pan. The batter cooks and holds in the melting candy bar. You watch until it's golden brown, then fish it out, and lay it on a paper towel. Then in about 1 minute. You eat the rich "low fat" dessert. The candy bar is a melted chocolate mess that electrifies your taste buds. As long as you can ignore the calorie count, they are immensely enjoyable.
Anyway - that was my night. If you want the batter recipe, just ask.